WorldSBK, Rea: “The Donington track is good for the Kawasaki”

As natives of Northern Ireland and England respectively, Johnny Rea and Alex Lowes are both British, which means the Donington Park round is the home event for both Kawasaki riders. The green pair head to the UK in first (Rea) and fourth (Lowes) place in the standings.

It’s an important weekend for them both. The Cannibal will have to defend himself from the inevitable attacks of Scott Redding, and the Ducati bulldog won’t be alone. Michael Ruben Rinaldi will be equally keen, as will Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Keen to repeat his 2019 triple victory, the six-time champion has high hopes for the weekend: “I am really excited to go to Donington because we missed it last year. We had a great weekend there in 2019 and it is a circuit that I really enjoy riding at. From past experience it is also a good track for the Ninja ZX-10RR”.

The Ballymena rider can’t wait to race in front of the fans: "Our first home race in two years and we will have some fans trackside, which is nice, although it would have been good to have a packed Donington. I hope to make a really strong weekend and work from Friday morning to understand the tyre options Pirelli has brought. At the recent Navarra test we tried some chassis options and we have a great understanding of the working window of the bike. I feel we really understood how we could get the bike to turn better and that will help us in some sections at Donington.”

Lowes seeking confirmation

Alex’s contract is up at the end of the year. Lowes is therefore seeking confirmation with team Provec KRT. And rightly so. The Englishman is determined to do well at Donington: "It will be great to be riding in front of the British fans again. Coming up through the BSB series I feel a really good and close relationship with the fans here. The second thing is that I like the track, it has always been a fun track for me, and I have taken some good results there. This will be my first time trying the Ninja ZX-10RR at Donington and I am excited about it."

And the track could suit the ZX-10RR well in the Brit’s opinion: "It is a track that looks like it works well for the bike. Kawasaki has won plenty of races there and the target for me is to get back on the podium. The target is clear for this weekend. Get back on the podium like we started the year in Aragon and enjoy the whole weekend in front of the home fans.”

Translated by Heather Watson

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